


Barre Girls

by Eldestmiddle



Series: katsuki family values [3]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Gen, Several years after canon, all the girls, leotard lineup, minako is definitely part of the katsuki fam, minako still brags about him, minako's advanced ballet class, ouside pov, yuuri is a gold medal olympian now, yuuri kept up with his dance education
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-12
Updated: 2017-05-12
Packaged: 2018-10-30 10:33:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10874958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eldestmiddle/pseuds/Eldestmiddle
Summary: minako's advanced ballet class





	Barre Girls

Mira walks into the studio and abruptly stops, causing a ten-person pileup of sharp elbows and inconvenient feet.

Katsuki Yuuri is standing in their studio.

Some of the girls behind her have pulled themselves together enough to peek over her shoulder and quietly squeal but Mira is frozen in the face of the town hero.

Katsuki Yuuri is standing in their studio, at the barre and _he’s looking right at her_.

Mira jerks herself back into motion and flees to the back to start her stretches. The rest of the class scurry after her. After she gets herself into a deep forward fold, she finally allows her face to twist up. Her body breaks out into a gross sweat and she feels cold all over.

Katsuki Yuuri is standing in their studio, at the barre and he might _still be looking at her_.

She brings herself up with a flat back and is both relieved and disappointed to see that his profile is to the rest of the studio and he’s staring off somewhere into middle distance as he meticulously practices all his positions with arm movements.

It’s not as though they didn’t know that Yuuri-san used Minako-sensei’s studio when in town. Minako-sensei brags all the time about her most decorated student, even if he did go into skating rather than dance. Yuuri-san had even studied in St Petersburg under Madame _Lilia Baranovskaya_. Minako-sensei hung a picture of him and his Olympic gold next to her _Benois de la Danse_ picture and award.

His _Olympic gold_.

Mira still can’t get over the fact that this tiny town birthed both a recipient of the _Benois de la Danse_ and an _Olympian_. She knows for a fact that Shiina, Kano, and stuck-up Kira definitely moved here specifically to train under Minako-sensei.

And of course his family owns the onsen in town where people from all over go to in hopes of catching sight of him, as though his homebase isn’t in St Petersburg with his equally amazing, though not Hatsetsu native, husband, Nikiforov-san.

Mira refuses to think back to how she and two of her classmates had begged their parents to be able to go together to the onsen as a treat a few years back and had peeked around all the corners in hopes of seeing Yuuri-san in a jinbei or maybe even with just a scandalous towel.

Mira also refuses to think on how they had unsubtly asked Katsuki-san about when her son might be visiting and how Katsuki Mari had butted in with a licentious smirk and informed them that her brother tended to help out at the onsen when he wasn’t training or entertaining his husband. At the time, the three girls had blushed furiously at the thought of Katsuki Yuuri kneeling solicitously by their side to offer them a towel with a gentle look in his eyes. Now, slightly older and much wiser, Mira blushes furiously at how Mari-san had talked about her brother _entertaining his husband_.

The Yutopia onsen had wonderful food anyway.

And the only reason she kept going back was because Minako-sensei had extolled the virtues of the hot springs on relaxing the muscles.

Mira straightens from her straddle and hesitates. Usually by this time, the girls would move to the barre and start their exercises but… She sneaks a glance over by the mirrors. Yuuri-san was actually, solicitously off to the side in terms of space but not even Kira had made her way to the barre as she likes to do first and stake out her territory.

The class mills around, a good distance from the mirrors, in a mild panic.

“What do we _do_?” Kano hisses.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Kira snarls back. “We go to the barre next.” She sweeps her leg out to knock into the calf of the girl next to her in a move that could totally be an accident but totally isn’t.

“I can’t do that!” Akemi looks like she’s on the verge of tears.

“Look, you’re native, he’s native. You guys talk about him all the time and your families probably know each other.”

“Hey,” Mira is compelled to stand up for her fellow townee, “don’t push her. And aren’t you the one always bragging how your parents introduce you to all sorts of celebrities all the time?”

Kira reddens and the rest of the girls snicker quietly. Kira isn’t great at making friends and Mira would feel bad if Kira wasn’t Kira. It’s not as though Kano had any trouble fitting in and Shiina is quiet but she and Chiharu act as though they came out of the womb together, holding hands.

Yuuri-san suddenly moves toward the center of the floor and girls sweep out to the very edges of the room like a flock of birds and trickle toward the barre at last. Mira catches Kano’s eye and feels a giggle bubble up in her throat at how ridiculous they are. Kano winks back.

 

(The boys at school don’t get it, except for maybe Taiki. They say things like, “He’s not that good looking.”

They say, “His legs are fat.”

“He’s too old for you.”

“He’s married anyway.”

They say, “He’s gay.” Like that’s the final word on the matter.

And all the girls in class, including the homeroom teacher, rise up and scream in unison, “ _That’s not the **point!**_ ”)

 

Minako-sensei does a fouette into the studio.

“Oh, good!” She trills. “I’m glad to see that nobody’s slacking off.”

The class collectively shivers. Yuuri-san just twitches his lips slightly. Mira knows this because every single girl in class, including her, is staring at him and they all discuss how hardened he is after class.

“Today, I have a little treat for you all!” Minako-sensei clasps Yuuri-san by the shoulder and spins him to face the class. “My darling Yuuri is back in town for a break and he’ll be joining us today.” Yuuri-san stares stonily at the leotard lineup. Mira sees Akemi clutch her middle out of the corner of her eye and prays that there won’t be any studio sick today. It tends to set off a chain reaction.

“Now let’s show these girls a little example on what it is to _dance_.”

Minako-sensei minces her way over to the stereo and pushes a button.

Immediately, a piano starts up and just as quickly, Yuuri-san strikes a quick pose and off he goes.

The experience is incredible.

Nikiforov-san once soppily said in an interview that his beautiful husband did not dance _to_ the music but instead _became_ the music.

Mira is experiencing Yuuri-san’s becoming the music.

Yuuri-san takes the music and elevates it beyond a standard ballet track for the studio _with his body_. Mira can’t really describe it. It’s as though the music is in his body and it grows and burns within him until it diffuses out into the environment like a heat lamp. He steps on across her clavicle and leaps onto her trapezius muscles. His fondue pulls at her heart downward and the free leg on his turns strikes against her ribs. Mira starts to grow dizzy as she watches him own the floor he grew up on. At the end of track, Yuuri-san strikes an ending pose and holds it for a beat before dropping into his rest position.

After a moment, Minako-sensei claps her hands twice, setting off a round of applause and frantic coughing as everyone tries to catch their breath after not breathing for the _entire time Yuuri-san was dancing_. Mira looks over at Kira, who seems just a dumbfounded as the rest of them and she claims to have seen the Royal Ballet in England.

“Now you girls have something to aspire to.” Minako-sensei smugly says. “Yuuri will be assisting me today and depending on how well you guys do, he may very well continue to do so while he’s here. Now line up!”

As all the students trip over themselves to their positions for floorwork, Mira can’t help but admire Minako-sensei’s carrot-and-stick method. Katuski Yuuri will be here, that is the carrot. Mira can also make a good guess as to the stick.

Minako-sensei calls out the elements and starts the music.

After the third beat, _Katsuki Yuuri begins walking around the room like a circling shark_. He starts with Kira who is at the front of the room and is, admittedly, the most well-trained. He stares at her technically perfect, achingly graceful form for a few long seconds before saying “Hm,” and moving on. Everyone hears it, even under the music, and everyone immediately starts sweating. _Hm_? What does that mean? Was it a good _hm_? Was that pause before the _hm_ a _good_ pause? Would everyone now be compared against Kira’s nationally ranked form? Was that a good thing because now they could see what she did wrong and correct themselves before he got to them? Let’s say, in a completely hypothetical situation, that the rest of the class didn’t know what Kira did, right or wrong. _What do we do now_?

 ** _This is the stick_**.

Everyone tightens their cores, points all free toes, and girds their loins.

Somehow, everyone makes it through class relatively unscathed, even Akemi who looked like she might have a complete meltdown when Yuuri-san breezed right past her without a second glance.

Minako-sensei leads them all through the reverence and smiles at them sunnily like the chaotically benevolent dictator she is.

“I’m very proud of you all, class. You did very well today. Now I will need all of you to stay after class. Yuuri has graciously agreed to share his critiques with each of you individually and we will call you in privately to my office to discuss your strengths and weaknesses. Now continue to cool down with stretches as Yuuri and I compare notes on today’s class.”

After Minako-sensei leads Yuuri-san out to her office, the class explodes into a flurry of conversations.

Mira looks over a Kira who is scowling down at the floor and asks, “So what do you think of class today?”

Kira cuts a glare over her outstretched arm and snidely says, “You really have no idea what just happened?”

The class immediately falls silent. Kira might not be well liked but she’s the most experienced out of all of them. She talks big but she backs it up with solid chops.

Kira rolls her eyes in the maddening way that makes Mira itch to slap her over the head.

“That was a mock audition.”

Everyone looks at each other and Kira heaves an enormous sigh and exerts herself to explain.

“Minako-sensei set a vague standard that we had to try to reach all throughout class. That was Katsuki-san. That demonstration was of how we _ought_ to be, what we should _aspire_ to be.”

As Kira stretches upward, she continues, “Katsuki-san was also our judge. He had a mental criterion that none of us knew. We could only do our best regardless. His judgement was also a way to exert some pressure on us in real time to see how we would hold up under scrutiny.”

“And the prize.” Mira mutters.

“Yes,” Kira lowers herself to the floor and speaks into the floorboards, “our collective prize is the continued presence of Katsuki-san in our classes. Of course, that also means the continued critical attention of Katsuki-san.”

Kano breathes, horrified and impressed, “That’s diabolical.” She’s shushed by everyone in the studio but Mira can relate and, by the looks on the other girls’ faces, they can too.

Kira is as haughty as always. “Don’t be complete babies. This is how things are done in the dance world on the higher levels. You have to be able to perform consistently to standard no matter the environment. You best take advantage of this and learn from it if you ever want to leave this tiny backwater village.” She ignores the glares of everyone in the studio with a practiced composure.

“You came to this tiny backwater village.” Tamako hisses. “Yuuri-san and Minako-sensei came from this tiny backwater village.”

“Yeah, and they were good enough to get out and make something of themselves.” Kira sits up, proud as a queen on her throne and looks everyone in the eye. “Let’s be real. Nothing is holding them here but sentimentality. This is a matter of choice. They could make their way anywhere in the world and be welcomed for their talents. You guys think too small. Kano, Shiina, and I came here to take advantage of a resource. We’re not _staying_ here.” Shiina purses her lips and Kano looks away but neither refute Kira’s claims.

“If you don’t shape up, you might still leave this town, but it won’t be for dancing. Katsuki-san is a taste of the real world out there. That’s why Minako-sensei pulled him in for this. Not so you guys could ogle the hometown hero. So don’t waste her efforts, okay?”

After throwing down that glove, Kira turns her back on them all and refuses to say anything more. Conversations start back up but they are much more subdued. Akemi starts quietly crying and Mira scoots over to pat her back.

"Hey. It's not so bad. You did well and weren't sick, yeah? And anyway, your grades are good enough to get you to a good college anywhere."

"But I don't _want_ to leave for another reason!" Akemi wails. "I want to leave to _dance_."

Mira's jaw drops. It's not that she'd doubted Akemi's love of dance, she made it to advanced lessons, it's just that, well, dancing was just something the girls of Hasetsu _did_. Ever since Minako-sensei and Yuuri-san, Hasetsu became modestly known for the arts and so girls, and sometimes boys, danced and skated the way kids in Tokyo went to cram schools. They became moderately well known as background dancers and decent teachers for beginner dancers.

Mira hadn't thought that anyone besides the three who moved here seriously aimed for a stage career. She hadn't thought that _Akemi_ , of all people, was seriously aiming for a dance career. Akemi danced well and practiced hard but Akemi also threw up whenever she got nervous and cried at the drop of a hat.

"You don't believe in me."

"Ah!" Mira frantically waves her arms. "No! You could-. "

"I know my weaknesses, Mira. But I want this more than anything."

As Akemi continues weeping, Mira burns with guilt. She had started dancing because that's what Hasetsu girls did, but she had continued because she was good at it and it was fun and she liked dressing up and dancing recitals and competitions with her friends. She had assumed that all the other girls had felt the same way.

"Don't act so condescending."

Chiharu raises her eyebrows at Mira's startled look.

"You care about dancing, too. Or you wouldn't be so nervous about this. Don't pretend you're above worrying about his opinion."

Mira looks away, flushing deeply. Chiharu is right. Yuuri-san had passed her twice in class. The first time, he had squinted dubiously at her arm position; the second time, he had just nodded and moved along and she had felt as though she _won_. If Yuuri-san had passed right by her without a second glance, she might've joined Akemi in crying into a puddle on the floor and thrown up for a good measure. Kira would've probably snapchatted it, the bitch.

"Shii~na!" Minako-sensei pokes her head into the room with a devious smile.

Shiina and Chiharu clutch at each other briefly before Shiina detaches herself to follow Minako-sensei to The Office.

The room slowly ominously empties as girls get called out, one by one.

Mira is second to last and as she gets up, she looks over at poor Akemi, the last dancer, all alone. Akemi seems to have fallen into the depths of her own fear and despair and come out the other side, because her face displays dried tears and a blank, frightening look as she stares into the mirror.

Mira shudders and follows Minako-sensei to The Office.

The Office is a place of extremes. It's where you get extremely good new or extremely bad news. Yuuri-san is seated behind The Desk, rubbing at his forehead, as though he has a persistent headache. Or maybe he's just tired of dealing with a bunch of wannabe dancers who wouldn't get anywhere. Mira's throat dries up and her knees start shaking. She'd been pretty confident in the studio but Chiharu was right. Mira definitely cared.

Minako-sensei goes to stand off to the side and gestures for Mira to take the seat in front of The Desk. She knots her fingers together in her lap as Yuuri-san raises his head and narrows his eyes at her.

Mira tries not to giggle as she remembers an old black-and-white foreign film she had watched with her friends.

" _Oh doctor! Please! Tell me what's wrong with me!_ "

According to Dr. Katsuki Yuuri, _everything_.

Mira feels the blood drain from her face as Yuuri-san breaks down her weight placement, finger position, free leg, head isolations, and everything that could be improved. By the end of his deadpan delivery, she feels a great sympathy for Akemi because she want to cry too. Minako-sensei is a silent voyeur to her humiliation. Mira had been too arrogant, thinking her natural talent could carry her on.

"Mira-san."

Mira looks up and braces for a finishing blow.

She's hit with the burning rays of Yuuri-san's gentle smile and almost wipes out of her seat.

"Your expressiveness is wonderful. Don't give up. You have very good basics as expected of anybody in Minako-sensei's care. You just need to polish your techniques and I hope with these improvements, you can carry your dancing to another level."

Mira stares at him, gobsmacked, until Minako-sensei coughs lightly.

"That's be all, Mi~ra. You can gather your things and leave. Our next class will be at the usual time and may go over again so be sure to let your parents know, okay?"

Stumbling out of her chair, Mira says something and totters her way toward the exit. At the door, she turns suddenly to stare at The Desk.

"Yuuri-sensei!" She can't bring herself to look into his eyes. "I'll get better. I'll keep what you said in mind and I'll improve. I hope that I'll make you proud."

She turns and runs out of the office, down the stairs, and out of the building.

_She was so stupid! That was practically a love confession!_

She keeps running.

 _But she doesn't really feel that way for him! But it sure sounded like it!_ _She had made a total fool of herself!!!_

Mira nearly runs into road sign and clings to it, shrieking, shaking, and stomping her feet.

After moment, Mira straightens up and ignores the kids at the playground staring at her. She turns around to head back to the studio. She'll wait for Akemi, as an apology. And maybe they could practice together, because Mira wants to get better too. It's no good just playing it cool and saying you did well enough at competitions and blaming circumstances for not making it higher. Kira might've had a headstart, but she's getting the exact same dance education Mira is now.

Mira's out of excuses. She can only get better if she pushes herself. She needs to make use of the advantages she has now.

"Hey! Akemi!"

A small figure by the building doors looks up and waves.

**Author's Note:**

> back at the The Office, yuuri hadshoved his glasses onto his face and turned to a shaking minako and shrieked, "THAT GIRL CALLED ME SENSEI!!!"


End file.
